Orundellico, known as "Jeremy Button" or "Jemmy Button" (c. 1815–1864), was a member of the
Yaghan (or Yámana) people from islands around
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...
, in modern
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. He was taken to England by
Captain FitzRoy in
HMS ''Beagle'' and became a celebrity there for a period.
HMS ''Beagle''
In 1830, Captain
Robert FitzRoy
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy and a scientist. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, FitzRoy's second expedition to Tierra de ...
, at the command of the first expedition of HMS ''Beagle'', took a group of
hostage
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refr ...
s from the
Fuegian people after one of his boats was stolen.
[ Jemmy Button was paid for with a ]mother of pearl
Nacre ( , ), also known as mother of pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer; it is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent.
Nacre is f ...
button
A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole.
In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, o ...
, hence his name. It is not clear whether his family willingly accepted the sale or he was simply abducted. FitzRoy decided to take four of the young Fuegian hostages all the way to England "to become useful as interpreters, and be the means of establishing a friendly disposition towards Englishmen on the part of their countrymen." He seems to have shown great concern for the four, feeding them before his own officers and crew and intending them to be educated and Christianised so that they could improve the conditions of their kin.
The names given to the Fuegians
Fuegians are the indigenous inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America. In English, the term originally referred to the Yaghan people of Tierra del Fuego. In Spanish, the term ''fueguino'' can refer to any person from ...
by the crew were York Minster, Jemmy Button, Fuegia Basket (a girl) and Boat Memory.[ The original names of the first three were, respectively, El'leparu, O'run-del'lico and Yok'cushly. Boat Memory died of ]smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
shortly after his arrival to England, and his Yaghan name is unknown.
Arrival in England
The ''Beagle'' arrived back in Plymouth from her first voyage of exploration in mid-October 1830. The newspapers soon started publishing details of the Yaghan visitors and they became celebrities. In London, they met King William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
. Fuegia Basket, a young girl, was given a bonnet from Queen Adelaide
, house = Saxe-Meiningen
, father = Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
, mother = Princess Louise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Meiningen, Saxe-Meiningen, Holy  ...
herself.
Return to Patagonia
One year later, Captain Fitzroy returned the three surviving Fuegians home. He took with him a young naturalist, Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
, in what was the second voyage of HMS ''Beagle''.
After initial difficulty recalling his language and customs, Jemmy soon shed his European clothes and habits. A few months after his arrival, he was seen emaciated, naked save for a loincloth, and long-haired. Nevertheless, he declined the offer to return to England, which Darwin conjectured was due to the presence of his "young and nice looking wife".[Charles Darwin]
''The Voyage of the Beagle''
p. 139. Retrieved August 1, 2011 It appears that he and the others had taught their families some English.
Darwin noted in his descent of man that Jemmy Button, probably like other Fuegians, did not have any concept of God or Devil. In ''The Descent of Man'' he suggests that Button never understood the plan to convert Fuegians to Christianity and "with justifiable pride,stoutly maintained that there was no devil in his land."
Wulaia Bay massacre
In 1855, a group of Christian missionaries from the Patagonian Missionary Society visited Wulaia Bay on Navarino Island
Navarino Island () is a Chilean island located between Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, to the north, and Cape Horn, to the south. The island forms part of the Commune of Cabo de Hornos, the southernmost commune in Chile and in the world, belong ...
, to find that Jemmy still had a remarkable grasp of English. Some time later in 1859, another group of missionaries was killed at Wulaia Bay by the Yaghan, supposedly led by Jemmy and his family. In early 1860, Jemmy visited Keppel Island
Keppel Island ( es, Isla de la Vigia) is one of the Falkland Islands, lying between Saunders and Pebble islands, and near Golding Island to the north of West Falkland on Keppel Sound. It has an area of and its highest point, Mt. Keppel, is ...
and gave evidence at the enquiry into the massacre, held in Stanley
Stanley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Film and television
* ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film
* ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy
* ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short
* ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
. He denied responsibility.
Death
In 1863, the missionary Waite Stirling visited Tierra del Fuego and re-established contact with Jemmy; from then relations with the Yaghan improved. In 1866, after Jemmy's death, Stirling took one of Jemmy's sons, known as Threeboy, to England.
Cultural references
Film
* '' Creation'' briefly recounts the story of Jemmy and the other children.
* A 2015 Chilean documentary, '' The Pearl Button'', was named in part after the manner in which Jemmy Button was named
* Several episodes of the 1978 serial '' The Voyage of Charles Darwin'' dramatize the Fuegians' capture and their later return to Tierra del Fuego.
Literature
* According to Julia Voss
Julia Voss (born 1974) is a German journalist and scientific historian. She is a writer and art critic who works at the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung''. ,[Julia Voss]
"Jim Knopf rettet die Evolutionstheorie"
''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (December 16, 2008). Retrieved July 31, 2011 the German children's book, ''Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer'' by Michael Ende
Michael Andreas Helmuth Ende (12 November 1929 – 28 August 1995) was a German writer of fantasy and children's fiction. He is known for his epic fantasy ''The Neverending Story'' (with its 1980s film adaptation and a 1995 animated television ...
, translated into English as '' Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver'', was based on Jemmy Button. Ende, who grew up in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, wanted to write a story that provided a contrast to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's racist ideology and misuse of Darwin's theories of evolution. Ende's 1960 novel became one of the most successful children's books in postwar Germany and won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...
in 1961.
*Jemmy Button appears in Argentine novelist Sylvia Iparraguirre's ''Tierra del Fuego'', which won the 2000 Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize.
* Jemmy appears in Harry Thompson
Harry William Thompson (6 February 1960 – 7 November 2005) was an English radio and television producer, comedy writer, novelist and biographer. He was the creator of the dark humour television series '' Monkey Dust'', screened between 2003 ...
's debut novel ''This Thing of Darkness
This Thing of Darkness (published in the United States as ''To the Edge of the World'') was the debut novel of Harry Thompson, published in 2005 only months before his death in November of that year at the age of 45. Set in the period from 1828 t ...
'' (2005).
* Jemmy features prominently in "Notes From the Scientific Record" in James Rollins
James Paul Czajkowski (born August 20, 1961), better known by his pen name of James Rollins, is an American veterinarian and writer of action-adventure/thriller, mystery, and techno-thriller novels who gave up his veterinary practice in Sacra ...
' tenth Sigma Force
James Paul Czajkowski (born August 20, 1961), better known by his pen name of James Rollins, is an American veterinarian and writer of action-adventure/thriller, mystery, and techno-thriller novels who gave up his veterinary practice in Sacram ...
novel, ''The 6th Extinction'' (2014).
* ''Jemmy Button'' is the name of a novel by the Chilean writer Benjamín Subercaseaux
Benjamín Subercaseaux Zañartu (1902–1973) was a Chilean writer and researcher. He won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1963.
Subercaseaux was the son of Benjamín Subercaseaux Browne and Ida Zañartu Luca. His father died shortly ...
.
Theater
* A play based on Jemmy's story premiered in Santiago, Chile on 8 April 2010.
Music
* A song entitled ''Jemmy Button'' is featured on the 2009 Darwin Song Project.
Audiobook
* Is mentioned as an analogy in Case 63, Episode 7 "Jemmy Button" 2022, Gimlet
Bibliography
* ''The Uttermost Part of the Earth'' by E L Bridges (1948) was republished in 2008 by Overlook Press ().
* ''In Patagonia
''In Patagonia'' is an English travel book by Bruce Chatwin, published in 1977, about Patagonia, the southern part of South America.
Preparations
During the Second World War, Chatwin and his mother stayed at the home of his paternal grandparen ...
'' by Bruce Chatwin
Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 194018 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, ''In Patagonia'' (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storyteller, ...
includes a fictionalised version of Orundellico's capture.
* The novel ''Jemmy Button'' by the Chilean writer Benjamin Subercaseaux was published in the 1950s and translated from Spanish by Mary and Fred del Villar (New York: The Macmilllan Company, 1954).
* '' La Tierra del Fuego'' by Sylvia Iparraguirre is another fictionalised version of the story. Winner of the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize. Translated into English by Hardie St. Martin (2000) Willamantic, CT, Curbstone Press 2000.
* Harry Thompson
Harry William Thompson (6 February 1960 – 7 November 2005) was an English radio and television producer, comedy writer, novelist and biographer. He was the creator of the dark humour television series '' Monkey Dust'', screened between 2003 ...
's ''This Thing of Darkness'' (2005) contains a fictionalised account of Jemmy's time in HMS ''Beagle'' and in England, as well as the massacre at Wulaia Bay ().
* ''Savage: The Life and Times of Jemmy Button'', a full account of Jemmy's life by English writer Nick Hazlewood was published in 2000 ().
* ''Three Men of the Beagle'' by Richard Lee Marks ()
* ''Jemmy Button'' by Jennifer Uman & Valerio Vidali (Words by Alix Barzelay, a children's picturebook version of the story of Jemmy Button's time in England.
References
External links
The civilization experience of Jeremy Button by Geraldo Salgado-Neto & Aquilea Salgado
H2G2 biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Button, Jemmy
1815 births
1864 deaths
Yaghan
Indigenous people of the Southern Cone
Ethnological show business